MoD fire depleted uranium shells into Scottish waters

THE MoD has used a legal loophole to fire thousands of depleted uranium shells into Scottish waters.

Military bosses dodged an international ban by saying the 30 tons of radioactive waste was “placed” rather than “dumped” off the beach in Kirkcudbrightshire. (Interestingly the spell checker doesn't recognise Kirkcudbrightshire and, without a word of a lie, suggests Buckinghamshire!)

Outraged campaigners yesterday called on them to retrieve the toxic waste. (I'd sent that long faced blokey; the one who looks if he smiled his face would crack into a million pieces...Hammond, isn't it?... Yes, well, I'd send him to pick them up with a pair of Marigolds. That would make his miserable face even more miserable.)

Aneaka Kellay, from the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium, said: “The Scottish public will struggle to understand how the MoD thought they could evade their legal and moral responsibility not to pollute the sea by calling this a ‘placement’. (The Scottish public struggle to understand a great amount of what they do in London. Many of them seem to be under a misapprehension that government in London gives some sort of a toss about health and welfare of Scots. As for "morals" and "responsibilities" ...please... you'll make me choke with laughter.)

“However they name their firing programme, the fact remains they have purposefully released nuclear waste into the Solway Firth.”

The toxic rounds end up in the water when tanks at a military range at Dundrennan fire shells at canvas targets on the cliffs.

Minutes of secret MoD meetings released after a Freedom of Information request show an official raised concerns in 2004 that the practice could breach the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic.

He was told the MoD’s interpretation was that “the projectiles were placements not dumping”. The convention states dumping doesn’t include “placement of matter for a purpose other than the mere disposal thereof”. (What a set of seedy, double dealing reprobates. If we were talking about doing this kind of thing anywhere near the Home Counties it would be a very different kettle of fish.) 

Depleted uranium has been linked to increases in cancers and birth defects in Iraq (where once again any kind of morality was chucked out the window in a desperate attempt to impress the President, thereby winning Tony Blair a Congressional Medal which I'm sure Cherry will sell for cash money.)

Minutes show the MoD have fired more than 6700 of the toxic shells into the Solway Firth over the last 30 years. (Ah well, in Iraq they are only foreigners and in the Solway they are only Jocks... who cares?)